The prescription for those with an addiction to golf…

Hello World!

Twenty years after Tiger Woods uttered those famous words, I’m announcing myself to the blogosphere. In the decade following his announcement, Tiger made the game look easy and if you look at the latest generation of studs, you might be foolish enough to believe it is easy… But golf is not easy.

Golf is the most difficult game in the world. In every other sport you get the benefit of being able to ‘react’. In a way, you can turn off your brain and just react to what is going on around you. That is more difficult to do in golf. There is no shot clock, there is no defense, and the ball doesn’t move. You have all the time in the world to think of all the ways that you can mess up this simple 50 yard pitch to a relatively accessible pin. And it is this internal battle that makes golf the greatest game ever played.

That is what gets us hooked. That is what starts the addiction. And lets face it… at this point it is an addiction. If you are like me then you spend entirely too much time thinking about your golf game. When am I gonna play next? What course should I play? What is the weather going to be like on Sunday? Let me pull up a score card and scope the course. I can pull up Google Maps and plan my attack on from satellite. Geez, this course looks easy from space, maybe I’ll shoot a new personal best. Do you think I could squeeze in a warm-up 9 holes after work without the wife knowing?

Golf is a cruel mistress. At its best we are sinking 20 foot putts and fist pumping like tour pros. Sticking that 100 yard wedge to a couple feet and tipping our cap to the applause in our heads while our buddies curse under their breath as the $5 Nassau is now in jeopardy.

At its worst it is chili-dipping simple pitch shots, slicing drivers off the planet, and three putting from 10 feet. Wondering why we play this stupid game. Why we are wasting a perfectly good day getting frustrated. I have work to get frustrated. I have bills to get frustrated… We begin wondering exactly how much force it would require to break that 7iron over a knee… and just how difficult it would be to replace said 7 iron by next week’s round.

But we can’t quit… We don’t want to quit. As frustrating as it is, that is what makes it beautiful. The days out in the sun. Bonding time with best friends or even strangers. The best part is the struggle. It’s me against the golf course. It’s my journey to improve. The battle to get better.

That’s what this blog is about. The battle to get better. I don’t get to play golf near as much as I’d like, though admittedly its more than most. To improve at this most difficult game, I have to find ways to make the best use of my time. Both practicing and playing. For the last 3 years I’ve been playing in a lot of tournaments and really working to figure out how to get better at this stupid game. I’ve bought new drivers, gadgets, magazine subscriptions, and books in my quest. Some have helped, some have hurt. Recently I have implemented new ways to track my stats and figure out what I need to work on, a lot of it based on a ‘strokes gained’ approach. I want to share that method here. Hopefully build a community of like minded players and share thoughts on how to improve at this awful game while juggling real world responsibilities such as family and work. Eventually as my son gets old enough to really start swinging I’d like to discuss junior golf and the challenges that come along with that. So hopefully you’ll jump along for the ride. Let’s get better together.